33 6 



the stones or any suitable shelter that may present itself.* 

 The rearing of lobsters in thousands instead of in tens or 

 units would, it is needless to assert, be but a matter of aug- 

 mented apparatus, and what the results would be upon our 

 depopulated lobster grounds if several thousands, or rather 

 millions, of such young animals could be turned out upon 

 them annually, those are best qualified to record a verdict 

 who have already had practical experience in the cultivation 

 of Salmonidae. 



Certain details respecting the suggested culture of lob- 

 sters on an extensive scale, and having such a practical end 

 in view as the restocking or improvement of our home 

 fisheries, may now be proceeded with. In the first place, 

 the simplest method of obtaining the young lobsters to be 

 reared is doubtless to keep the berried hens in suitable 

 ponds or tanks until the young are liberated from their 

 eggs. This process, though a sure one, necessarily entails 

 the feeding of the adult fish for a period of several 

 months while their eggs are ripening, and this expense, in 

 my opinion, might be avoided. As explained in an earlier 

 paragraph of this Paper, the relationship maintained between 

 a- female lobster and her eggs is a purely mechanical one, 

 for the purpose of securing their protection, aeration, and 

 freedom from extraneously derived substances until the 

 young are hatched. Now all these conditions could be as 

 efficiently secured by an artificial system of culture, almost 

 precisely identical with that which has been brought to bear 

 so successfully upon the cultivation of the eggs of the Sal- 



* Although not frequently obtained close to shore in this very early 

 ambulatory condition, my friend Mr. Henry Lee, F.L.S., tells me that 

 he has, many years ago, taken such little lobsters, having an average 

 length of from one to one and a half inches, in the neighbourhood 

 of Shanklin, Isle of Wight 



